Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Rob McCart -
Number of replies: 7

I've created a competency framework and learning plan. I've associated a competency with 2 courses. I rate the competency in each course for a student using the "Competency breakdown" report. In one course the competency is rated "competent" in the other "not yet competent". The "Monitoring of learning plans" report looks as it should:

- the total number of ratings is 2/2

- the rating chart shows half "not yet competent" (yellow) and half "competent" (green). Rating count for "not yet competent" and "competent" is 1 each

- the final rating is "Not yet competent" and "Not proficient"


When I do something similar for another student, but only rate the competency in one course as "competent" and leave the other unrated, the "Monitoring of learning plans" report looks like:

- total number of ratings: 1/2

- the rating chart is all competent (green), the rating count is "not yet competent: 0", "competent: 1"

- the final rating is "Competent" and "Proficient"


Is this expected behaviour?

I'm using Moodle 3.1.4+ (Build: 20170209) with Monitoring of learning plans plugin 1.0.0

Thanks, Rob

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In reply to Rob McCart

Re: Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Mary Cooch -
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Hello there. I presume you are using this learning plans monitor plugin? https://moodle.org/plugins/report_lpmonitoring

I am going to move your post to the Competencies forum - even though it is actually related to a plugin. I feel the Competencies experts frequent that forum and it might be the best place for help smile

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In reply to Rob McCart

Re: Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Joost Elshoff -
Particularly helpful Moodlersನ ಚಿತ್ರ Testersನ ಚಿತ್ರ

I'm not fully aware of the inner workings of this plugin, but it kind of makes sense.

In situation 1, you rated both competencies, hence the 2 colors in the chart (1 for each rating). Since the rating chart only records rated competencies, in this case it displays the status of the 2 rated ones (2 out of 2).

In situation 2, you only rated 1 of 2 competencies. The rating chart only displays the breakdown of rated competencies (the other one does not have a status 'rated' or a rating associated with it), so it will only show the 1 color. The hint is in the mention of total number of ratings being 1/2.

You would expect a chart showing something like 50% grey and 50% color of the rating, if it would display all competencies rated/unrated and then broken down, but I suspect this is not how this chart works.

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In reply to Joost Elshoff

Re: Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Rob McCart -

Thanks for the reply Joost.

It appears that the student view of the learning plan works the same way. I've have 2 students enrolled in the 2 courses I mentioned below. Student1 has been rated as "competent" in one course and "not yet competent" in the other. Student 2 has been rated as "competent" in one course and is not rated in the other.

For student1, the learning plan shows "not competent, not proficient" for the competency. The rating for both competencies are shown.

For student2, the learning plan shows "competent, proficient" for the competency. The rating is only shown for the competency that was rated.

If a competency is based on more than one activity or course, the student is given a false perception that they are proficient in that competency after the first activity or course is rated.

Any thoughts on how to avoid this? I don't see a way to give the competency a "not yet competent" rating as a default.

Thanks, Rob

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In reply to Rob McCart

Re: Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Joost Elshoff -
Particularly helpful Moodlersನ ಚಿತ್ರ Testersನ ಚಿತ್ರ

Hi Rob,

Setting the competency to default 'not yet competent' can be done from two places, if I'm correct:

- at competency level in your framework, by using a custom scale (you have to edit the competency and modify the scale in the settings page)

- at framework level, changing the scale settings and values from the respective settings page. 

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In reply to Joost Elshoff

Re: Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Rob McCart -

Hi Joost,

I don't think that is what the "Default" setting on the scale does. It is used to assign a competency level for an activity that is automatically rated. If your scale has more than one setting for "proficient" (eg just competent, competent, highly competent), this allows you to set which value will be used. Here's the blurb from the documentation:

The default value is what is displayed in the breakdown report and for a student in their learning plan when a competency is automatically met upon activity completion.

We have recently upgraded to Moodle 3.2.2+ (Build: 20170331), which has an updated version of the Monitoring of Learning Plan plugin: 1.1.1 (Build 2016120500).

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In reply to Joost Elshoff

Re: Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Rob McCart -

Hi Joost,

I have a similar issue for competencies that are automatically met upon activity completion.

I want to set the competency to "Competent" if a condition is met and "Not yet competent" if the condition is not met. For exemple, if I have a quiz activity and set the Activity completion to:

- show activity complete when conditions met

- student must receive a grade to complete the activity

- require a passing grade

And set the activity Competencies to:

- select a course competency

- Upon activity completion: Compete the competency

When the student gets a passing grade in the quiz, the competency is marked as "Competent". But if the student does not get a passing grade, the competency is marked as "not rated".

It seems that I can't generate both a "Competent" and "Not yet competent" rating for competencies ratings that can be automatically generated.

Am I missing something?

Thanks, Rob

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In reply to Rob McCart

Re: Issue with Learning Plan Monitor and unrated competencies

by Joost Elshoff -
Particularly helpful Moodlersನ ಚಿತ್ರ Testersನ ಚಿತ್ರ

Hi Rob,

Elsewhere in this forum, there was a discussion following the same basic question: can I use the competency rating in a similar way to the activity grading (and completion settings)? At this point, I would say the competencies approach can not be compared to the grading approach. With what Moodle presently provides for competencies, they're best used in an all-or-nothing way: you're either competent or you're not. 

Having said this, it might make sense to break the relevant competency (or competencies) down into more useful bits, adding multiple levels of competency to the test (a basic behavior, an average behavior, an above average behavior and an expert behavior). These ratings should not be in the same competency, but should be treated as separate ones. 

Then, breaking down the test into smaller units with a corresponding level of difficulty, will enable you to award 1 competency per test/quiz:

  • basic test ==> basic competency
  • average test ==> average competency
  • above average test ==> above average competency
  • expert test ==> expert competency 

As for the other issue of how to handle the not-rated-yet competencies: I think the recommendation would be to find a clearer way to have them displayed. In the regular studyplans overview window for a student, it displays a progress bar that will fill according to the number of competencies rated in the plan. Unrated competencies are and should be left out. Competencies rated as not competent, do show up in the list, but not in the progress bar. Condition to fill the bar is: competency is rated as competent.

There is a lot of room for clarification and improvement in the way all this is displayed and how CBE is approached using Moodle, as you can see and read here... Hopefully this helps you in figuring out how to implement it all.

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